Tweet

Inspirational Leadership: The Art Of Appreciation II

Guest post by: Michael Hume

Article Overview: I've written often about the primary "need" expressed by most of my clients - the need (or desire) to increase their inspirational leadership. I've also written a good deal about the two basic types of people out there - the Entrepreneur, and the Victim. It turns out the two concepts are linked. It's all about appreciation of yourself and of others....

Inspirational Leadership: The Art Of Appreciation II

Victimhood Starts With Low Appreciation Of Self And Others I've written often about the primary "need" expressed by most of my clients - the need (or desire) to increase their inspirational leadership. I've also written a good deal about the two basic types of people out there - the Entrepreneur, and the Victim. It turns out the two concepts are linked. It's all about appreciation of yourself and of others.

After years of coaching and counseling some of the brightest leaders (and emerging leaders) in today's business world, I've written a guide to practical empathy called "Feelings For Thinkers." So far, I've shared the bulk of the content only with my clients. One of the key pieces in the book is a discussion of what makes the difference between leaning toward your "inner Entrepreneur" or your "inner Victim," and the two attitudinal types differ primarily in their developed ability to properly appreciate themselves and others.

As I've mentioned in previous pieces, I would not suggest that a leader abandon critical reason (or the ability to be critical of work products) in their effort to become more inspirational. Inspiring someone doesn't mean coddling them. But frankly, most of my smart clients lean too much on their thinking and not enough on their emotional ability, and therefore develop what I teasingly refer to as "Empathy Deficiency Syndrome." The best leaders are able to be appropriately critical of work products without coming across as being critical of people and their efforts.

The two dimensions of self-appreciation and appreciation of others divide leaders into four basic camps. A person high on self-appreciation and low on appreciation of others tends to come across as the "Arrogant Boss," and that person's primary visible attitude is one of entitlement. The opposite type - high on others but low on herself - comes across as the "Humble Servant," with a primary visible attitude of obligation. The first seems to believe his teammates don't deserve their positions; the latter, that she doesn't deserve hers. Neither is an effective style for inspirational leadership.

Both, though, are better than the "Apathetic Victim," who is low on appreciation of both self and others. Toward himself, such a "leader" has an attitude of concealment - he doesn't share much of himself because he doesn't want to be "found out." Toward others, he's always critical, usually overly-so. And in general, this political creature is competitive... everything is win-lose, or more commonly, lose-lose.

Obviously, the most inspirational leaders are high on both self-appreciation and appreciation of others. They're optimistic, roll-up-your-sleeves doers. Such a person has a courageous attitude toward self-discovery, a curiosity about other people (not just their problems, or what they can offer her), and in general, she has a collaborative spirit. She's likely to have an entrepreneurial bent, and she's likely to be both inspired and inspiring.

In this age, when a business owner or leader must rely less than his forebears did upon command-and-control authority, inspirational leadership is key. The winners in the coming years will be the leaders who are skilled not just in critical thinking, but in empathy and inspiration. And good news: these are skills that can be developed, especially with the help of a great coach. Give me a call!

Related Articles
  Inspirational Leadership: The Art Of Appreciation
  Appreciate Your Adversaries, VI
  Appreciate Your Adversaries, VII
  The Winter Blues Are No Match For Your Optimism
  Inspirational Leaders Aren't Angry People
  Today Is Your Lucky Day
  Great Leadership Requires Inspiration, XVII
  Appreciate Your Adversaries, X
  How to Be an Inspiring Leader
  Great Leadership Requires Inspiration, XVIII
  Be An Entrepreneur This Year
  Great Leadership Requires Inspiration, III
  Inspirational Leaders Challenge Themselves
  Great Leadership Requires Inspiration, XIII
  Do Your People Know You?
  How To Recognize Inspirational Leadership
  Don't Take Your Life For Granted
  Great Leadership Requires Inspiration, XIX
  Inspirational Leadership: Do It Your Way
  Ten Things To Appreciate Today

Article Tags: entrepreneurship, health wealth and happiness, inspirational leadership, personal responsibility



Related Forum Posts
Re: Business Women Peer Mentoring Spotlight - Hi Everyone, Gosh, I REALLY appreciate your concrete feedback. This was far more than I expected and I'm glad you said what you thought straight out. Each of you have shared something of value and I want to take some more time to think and really go over what each of you have said. However, I can see there are some things I need to change right away. What an interesting point about a NEW program perhaps making people think they are guinea pigs! This is NOT what I want to convey! It's funny how we can see some things so clearly in others while not always seeing it for ourselves! I must admit there are a few things I've been meaning to change (like my bio which is very outdated). Obviously, these things need to be higher on my priority list. You caught me like the plumber who puts his clients first and doesn't get around to fixing his own tap! As far as my target market, I do feel quite strongly about working with Women Leaders and doing Leadership Coaching with them. It's non-negotiable in my books. In my Executive Coaching training, the terms "Leaders" and "Executives" are interchangable. To me, an Executive is a Leader and so is the Business Woman or Entrepreneur who is CEO of her own business. I love working with decision makers! What I did learn is that I need to avoid opening up the Leadership term beyond what I described above. I'm also wondering if there is a misunderstanding with the general public as to what Leadership Coaching really is. Leadership Coaching is all about developing your leadership skills, both as a people manager and in more effectively running and growing the business. There is ALWAYS room for growth in some way. As well, sometimes, we just need a sounding board to clarify what our next BEST step is. In fact, if a woman thinks she has nothing to work on, then we aren't a good Client/Coach fit anyway. How can she grow if she doesn't see the value of expressing ALL of the great ability within her? How can her company grow if she doesn't see the value of strategic planning for the next best level? Thanks again to you all! I will go back to my website and really question whether I am conveying the right message. I got more than I bargained for in this Spotlight... you generously offered way more than I was asking. I think we could be on to something great for the Forum. Now it's time to let someone else have the spotlight. It would be great if everyone took a turn! In gratitude, Tami
Re: 3 Ways I Used Twitter To Grow My Business This Week - Hi Olivia, It seems you are working in the area of leadership area. Is Leadership = Learning? I am looking for some good books on strategy? Which one do you recommend? Thanks, Robert
Re: LEADERS - Nice post, i like the Doers and the listeners comments from my handbook 8.5 HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT LEADERSHIP? Planning Problem Solving Vision Innovation Leadership Emotional Intelligence Delegation Communication Self-Development Relationship Building Commercial Financial skills Personal Energy Ethics Transparency Even there I see that we are missing "PASSION"
Different Hats - CEO Sales & Marketing & Leadership Development Company Strategic Vision 10 Alliances & Growth Strategies 10 Hiring & Managing People 8 Mentoring 8-9 Strategic Planning for Clients 10 Execution of Marketing Campaigns 9-10 (i have great people who do the nitty gritty) Financial Management 9 Bookkeeping 3 (outsourced as I really hate the fine details like GST0 Administrative Follow Up 6-7 (again have great staff) Writing & Publishing 9 (getting better all the time!) Speaking 10 (so I have been told) Self Promotion 9-10 Web development & Promotion 6-7 (learning more and have brought on players who are 10+) Babysitting Employees (1 - wont do it, that's why I work so hard to hire and motivate the people I have) Great topic Kevin!! Jude
Why A Project Fails? - Hello Everyone As the size and complexity of ones business grows, so does their need to effectively manage projects. I have been thinking about the major reasons why a project can go wrong and my limited experience comes up with the following. 1 Leadership: A project manager with leadership skills and not just management skills. 2 Failure to (Foresee and) Plan 3 Failure to Manage: Ineffective change management control methods. Unclear decision making guidelines. 4 Talent: Finding, allocating and developing people 5 Scope: Setting an overly ambitious or amibigious project scope 6 Alignment: When projects are not prioritized in alignment with the business strategy, or project members personal objectives are not in tandem with that of the project / company 7 Lack of Candor: Communication Breakdowns I would be interested in knowing everyone's thoughts on this, especially on ways to overcome the above mentioned obstacles. Cheers!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How Promotional Caps became a Fashion Trend

Do You Pretend To Listen To People?

THE “SECRET RECIPES” OF LEADERSHIP

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.